Feb. 13, 2008

UTA vs. Lamar Game Notes

ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington women's basketball team will host Lamar in Texas Hall on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. The Mavericks have dedicated Thursday's game as `Think Pink' Night.

UTA will join over 900 other women's basketball teams in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) "Think Pink" initiative when Lamar comes to Texas Hall this Thursday. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game to help increase cancer awareness. Anyone who wears pink will gain free admission.

The "Think Pink" initiative is a global, unified effort for the WBCA's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.

Senior Maryann Abanobi leads the Mavericks with 12.5 points a games, but junior Candice Champion has come on strong in conference play leading the team with 12.6 points a games. Champion and senior Tiffeny Riles are one and two in the conference in field goal percentage hitting 63 and 62 percent from the floor in league play respectively. Riles also leads the team on the glass averaging 6.9 rebounds a contest.

Scouting Lamar...
Lamar leads the SLC East with a 6-2 record in league play. The Cardinals started out conference play on a hot streak running through their first five SLC opponents, but McNeese put an end to Lamar's five-game SLC winning streak on Feb. 2. The Cowgirls downed the Cardinals 81-74 in Beaumont. Tamara Abalde leads three Cardinals in double digit scoring on the season, with 17.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Nikki Williams and Brittany Williams are averaging 13.7 and 13.5 points a game respectively on the season.

Series History with the Cardinals...
This will be the 33rd meeting between the Cardinals and Mavericks. UTA has a 20-12 lead in the series and a 11-3 advantage in games played at Texas Hall. The Mavs have won the last eight of nine meetings between these two teams including a 65-51 victory in Beaumont on Feb. 8 of last season.

The Coaches...
Samantha Morrow became the eighth head coach in UT Arlington women's basketball history in August. She has posted a 12-8 record in her first season coaching at the collegiate level after amassing a 413-77 (.843) record at the high school level. Larry Tidwell is also in the midst of his 1st season as a college head coach with a 13-8 overall record at Lamar.

Looking Ahead...
The Mavs will be heading to Lake Charles, La. for a 4 p.m. meeting with McNeese State on Saturday.